Today the homepage has been turned over to the 12 finalists of The Guardian’s short film-making competition, inspired by "Old School People", a distinctly surreal text from playwright and journalist Mark Ravenhill.

With a central protagonist who aspires to becoming a sofa, a mother figure who’s inflatable and footballing wheelie bins, the resulting films veer from the funny to the nakedly nightmarish, but the judging panel has obviously enjoyed reviewing the entries, stating: "Every one of these films is worth a watch. Each has something to say, and says it with verve and style – if not polish."

While it’s disappointing to note that they intended to "harness the power of YouTube and direct it towards something a little more sophisticated than cats falling down the back of the sofa", we’re willing to overlook such an ill-informed opinion given that they are offering the winning user the chance to spend a week at the shoulder of TV executive Stuart Cosgrove, of Channel 4. Not to mention the fact that the paper recently employed YouTube's Panacea81 as a guest columnist.

Anyway: sit back, brace yourselves for some strong imagery and find out where the finalists have taken the material. The remit was open, the time limit set at five minutes… the rest was down to them.